To all of our CSG family & friends, we hope you are having a joyous holiday season and wish you a happy 2022!
2021 saw some big changes at CSG Horsemanship and Ben Wever Farm. The winter months January through March were busy with business planning and facilities maintenance, but we managed to enjoy quiet schooling rides and snowy trails. We applied for the Time To Ride program with the American Horse Council, and in April we were accepted as an approved TTR site. Sarah, Emmitt, Bunk and I also made some movie magic for a book trailer, Searchers in Winter. It was an exciting experience to work with a film crew and actors!
May was a very busy month. We hosted our first Master Class on saddle fitting with Mikayla Pick (The Saddle Gal) and The Barn in Wadhams. Martha and I also attended the LandSafe clinic at Iron Valley Equestrian Center, and highly recommend it. Our neighbor Roger King and his crew installed our new outdoor arena – it took about two weeks of deconstruction, and only a week of construction, and they did an AMAZING job. The arena has been an absolute game changer for our program, with excellent footing and drainage. Audie and I capped off the month with an outing to the Heart’s Delight show, with Wednesday and Signe bringing home blues!
In June we had a full schedule of lessons, but Pierre-Luc and I managed to escape for vacation to Louisiana. It was the first time we had seen any of PL’s family in two years. A highlight, of course, was watching our niece take a riding lesson at her own barn!
July was booked full with Summer Intensive Horse Program sessions. Honestly, this was one of the most exhausting but exciting parts of the year for me. The progress each of the SIHP kids made over the course of one or two weeks was incredible! I think our 2022 SIHPs will not be back to back, though…LOL. Oh, and Kima & I rode in the 4th of July parade! Kima was a rock star, as usual. Additionally, we were delighted to participate in the Town of Willsboro summer youth program as one of their activity providers. We provided riding lessons through the program as well as some “Intro to Horses” clinics.
Our barn had a facelift over the summer. My aunt Ginger painted our office door a beautiful shade of teal with artwork that included what is now known as the Controversial Chicken(s). You’ll have to check it out – and the whole of her work at Ginger Slonaker. Our neighbor and my “godsister” Leah also ran a tight ship as our Summer Barn Manager, even if she and Sarah spent a lot of time scheming and tea spilling.
In addition to our regular lessons and training programs, we managed to get out and have adventures in August. With the growth of our lesson program and the installation of the arena, we haven’t been trail riding as much, so this was a refreshing change of pace. Wednesday spent a few weeks with Camilla to get some trail miles, and we took her swimming at the lake for the first time!
As the summer drew to a close, our family welcomed exchange students Cedric and Ana for the 2021-2022 school year. They are pretty busy with basketball at the moment, but you’ll occasionally find them looking very cold in the barn.
We re-booted our 4-H horse program in September/October – it’s now called the Reber Valley Riders. Marcail graciously has stepped up as my co-leader, and our group is really enthusiastic and active. We are really excited to see where we’ll go with the rest of the 4-H year.
We capped off the season by attending Equine Affaire in November. I took Wednesday and Kima, who made a lot of new friends in the public barn, including my Massachusetts cousin Riley and her barn friends! I had the incredible opportunity to ride with Lynn Palm and Ken McNabb, which I believed really elevated my horsemanship. It was a bucket list item to ride in the coliseum, and Wednesday knocked it out of the park!
Being on the backstretch as a professional was a first for me. I met and made some great connections with a number of horsemen from other areas. I also volunteered at the CHA booth for a few hours, and had a great time speaking to current and aspiring CHA professionals.
Audie, Marcail, KK, and Ana all came to Equine Affaire with us and were an invaluable support team – turns out having two horses at an event like this is pretty labor intensive! I really cannot thank you enough for your support. I also have to thank Pierre-Luc, Shaun and Linda for making it possible, Becky for the advice, and the crew at Reynolds Auto Repair for the wheels 🙂
This year, we welcomed Lottie of Gracrest “Charlotte”, Lilly of Nehemiah Valley “Tillie”, LF Happy Dude “Hap” and *officially* welcomed Boons Rose Royal “Emmitt” into the CSG herd. Crowd favorite Kozaa also returned for the season, and is now wintering at Jacsue Stable in Keeseville. Charlotte is wintering as a companion pony to her friend Sunny at South Farm in Essex. You may have also met some visitors at the barn this year: Gunner, Trent, Luke, Abby Belle, Buttercup, Danae, Star, Beaujolais, the list goes on!
We also had our setbacks and losses this year – we lost the legend, Falcon, to colic in January. We are grateful to Pond Hill Ranch for letting us have 2020 with him. He was a damned good horse, as they say. Pierre-Luc and I also lost our curly-haired cattledog Bindi and our “house dog” Balou. Devastated, we of course swore off getting any more dogs – hence why Alice, another Australian Cattledog/Border Collie mix, is now a fixture at the barn when she is not annoying her “big” brother Bowie Francis.
We want to extend special thanks to our veterinarian, Dr. Martha Jackson, and our farrier Dylan Sutphen. They both have been understanding, compassionate and creative in their solutions to any challenges we’ve had with the health, comfort and management of our horses.
We are endlessly grateful to all of our clients, students and volunteers. You have all brought your own stories, talents, and special energies to this place, and that has made our little barn and herd of horses a special place to be. I am excited to come to work every day because of you.
Most importantly, our horses have yet again surpassed our expectations. They are friendly, willing, brave, safe, forgiving and just challenging enough to be good teachers. I thank my lucky stars we’ve assembled such a talented remuda. They’re both my partners and my family.
Here’s to a great 2022!
Chauntel, Pierre-Luc, Bowie Francis, Alice, Calypso, Bunk, Kima, Charlotte, Tillie, Wednesday & the rest of the fam <3